A giant telescope to be built in the Canary Islands

A non-profit organization that wants to place a giant telescope on a mountaintop in Hawaii has chosen the Canary Islands as alternate location if the device can not be built on the mountain that many Hawaii residents believe to be holy. A mountain in the Canary Islands, Spain, is the primary alternative to Hawaii, Thirty Meter Telescope officials announced in a press release.

The TMT International Observatory Board of Governors met last week to discuss the project's progress in Hawaii and identified Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos on La Palma island "after careful deliberation," board chair Henry Yang said in a statement. Hawaii's Mauna Kea is still the preferred location, Yang said, adding that telescope officials will forge ahead in efforts to obtain a permit to build it on conservation land. The Mauna Kea Mountain was the first choice due to the fact that its top is at 4,200 meters high; the visibility is good almost 300 days a year. The second location in Palma is only at a height of 2396 meters.

The project is stalled in Hawaii amid intense protests by Native Hawaiians and others who cite the sacredness of the land and other issues for their opposition. The state Supreme Court last year invalidated the project's permit, ruling that the state land board's approval process was flawed. The ruling sent the matter back for a new contested-case hearing.

"I'm glad they're looking at alternative sites," Kealoha Pisciotta, one of the leaders challenging the telescope, said during a break in the hearings. "I have to say if they do go with the alternative site, I hope they don't do there what they're doing to Native Hawaiians and the people of Hawaii."